THE CANUCKS COME UP WITH A BIG 4-3 OVERTIME VICTORY AGAINST THE WRANGLERS
The Abbotsford Canucks continued their 4-game series against the Wranglers as they return home for their final two regular season home games.
Artūrs Šilovs returned to the Abbotsford Canucks lineup after starting in 3 games for the Vancouver Canucks. Connor Murphy got the start in net tonight for the Wranglers. On defense for the Canucks was the duo Christian Wolanin and Guillaume Brisebois, followed by Matt Irwin and Filip Johansson. Cole McWard also returned to the lineup tonight, and he paired up with Nick Cicek, and Elias Pettersson capped off the blue line as the 7th d-man.
Upfront, the Canucks chose to go with the same lineup as the previous two games against the Wranglers. Aatu Räty, Max Sasson, and Linus Karlsson kicked things off on offense, followed by Tristen Nielsen, Sheldon Dries, and Marc Gatcomb. Aidan McDonough and Arshdeep Bains bookended John Stevens, and Chase Wouters and Ty Glover paired up to solidify the group of forwards.
The Wranglers got the lone goal in the first period after Clark Bishop ripped one past Šilovs just 3 minutes into the game. The Canucks had some great chances but battled too many minutes in the box to successfully get on the board and were down 1-0 heading into the second period.
The middle frame was action-packed, with a total of 4 goals. The Canucks own Linus Karlsson tied it up just 1 minute and 42 seconds into the frame. Karlsson caught a pass from Aatu Räty in front of the net, where he netted his 22nd goal of the season. Around the halfway mark, Mitch McLain got himself on the scoresheet as he netted his 16th of the season and gave the Wranglers the lead once again. Just 59 seconds later, the Canucks had a faceoff in the offensive zone. Sheldon Dries shot straight from the faceoff and the puck found the back of Calgary’s net, unassisted, for his 29th goal of the year, and equalizer once again. A minute and a half later, Aidan McDonough joins the scoring party after a setup from Arshdeep Bains leaves Connor Murphy with a puck in his net for the 3rd time tonight. The Canucks had their first lead of the game heading into the final period.
The Canucks looked to maintain their lead and take home the 2 points in regulation, but the Wranglers has other plans when Jakob Pelletier snook one past Šilovs with just under 5 minutes to play and tie the game up at 3, and force overtime.
In overtime, a late hooking call to the Wranglers meant that the Canucks would get a man advantage, and with just 30 left to play, Christian Wolanin was there to rip one home and win it for Abbotsford.
The Canucks have one final regular season game tomorrow against the Wranglers, and they look to sweep this mini-series.
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